Will Calum Ritchie make the Colorado Avalanche past his short audition during the 2024-25 regular season? He sure has made a pretty darn good case for himself, most recently in Sunday night’s game against the Utah Hockey Club.
Ritchie scored his first preseason goal in the team’s first game, against the Dallas Stars. So this goal on Sunday night was his second of the preseason. It’s not expected that a young player scores in every game, and a player’s performance is not only graded by the number of goals he scores. Those are just a big bonus.
Ritchie’s goal on Sunday night was an awesome one to witness, unless, of course, you are the Utah goaltender. Ritchie faked out Utah’s goaltender by pretending that he was going to shoot the puck, forcing Karel Vejmelka to move early, and then the 19-year old shot the puck into the net.
Of course, that sort of thing won’t always work in the NHL against top-tier NHL goaltenders, but the move showed an extra dose of what Ritchie is capable of doing. In fact, check out the goal here:
Cal Ritchie goal alert!!!! Ritchie with a heck of a fake shot and the sweet backhand shot for the finish. Malinski and Brännström on the assists #Avs #GoAvsGo @TheRinkColorado pic.twitter.com/SYiOcfnrVi
— Brennan Vogt (@brennan_vogt) September 30, 2024
In fact, I’ll do one better. Here’s the play in slow motion.
Oh yeah, I didn’t quite mention that it was a breakaway goal, too. Well, for whoever didn’t end up seeing it until this tweet from Brennan Vogt, surprise!
Ritchie will get a short audition in the regular season, as there is a rule that prohibits him from joining the Colorado Eagles at his age. If Ritchie makes the team, that would be outstanding. If not, he will have to be sent down to the Oshawa Generals of the OHL. On one hand, it could prove to be a great move by the Avalanche to have him in the OHL for a little bit longer. On the other hand, has he done enough to claim a spot on the team’s roster?
That is the goal, I’m sure, but it’s best not to rush him if he’s not ready.